Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to join with a range of other speakers from the government side of the chamber in commending the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Bill 2022 and commending both Minister Wells and the government as a whole for bringing this legislation on so early in this term. I think it is a sign of how important the government considers fixing the aged-care system that this is one of the first bills that this parliament will deal with. I think I'm right in saying this is the first bill that the Senate is dealing with in this term of government.

It's been too long since we've had a government in Australia that actually cares about the aged-care system and cares about aged-care residents, their families, and, importantly, the workers who do so much for those we love with so little recognition and so little value for the work they perform. That is something that is going to change under the Albanese Labor government, evidenced by the fact that we are moving so early in this term on this legislation. Australians have been waiting for so long to have a government that takes aged care seriously, that is prepared to fund it properly and is prepared to treat residents, families and workers in the system with respect. This legislation from the Albanese government is the beginning of that.

We've introduced a key piece of aged-care legislation, delivering on the government's promise to ensure that older Australians receive the higher-quality care they deserve. These are our loved ones. These Australians have worked, raised families, paid their taxes and, unfortunately, under the former government, had to experience shocking neglect in the aged-care system. Despite the number of warnings given to the former government, they had to endure those conditions—maggots in wounds; appalling food that you wouldn't feed your dog, let alone your loved ones. This was happening far too often in the aged-care system under the former government. That is what we are about fixing, including via this legislation.

As other speakers have noted, the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Bill 2022 will deliver critically needed changes for the aged-care system. This legislation will bring in a few key points. It will bring in a new Australian National Aged Care Classification funding model, which will replace the outdated Aged Care Funding Instrument in October 2022, offering more equitable funding that is better matched to providers costs in delivering the care residents need.

Before I go on to mention the other points that this bill deals with, I want to say more about the importance of addressing the funding model. Let's not forget—we should never forget—that the funding model that is being replaced, the Aged Care Funding Instrument, was exactly the funding model that former Prime Minister Morrison, as Treasurer, made adjustments to that starved the aged-care system of the funding it so desperately needed. If you want to look, for one moment in time, what set up the failure of the system, the neglect of the system and the people within it, it was that decision by former Treasurer and former Prime Minister, Mr Morrison, backed by every other member of the former government, that starved the aged-care system of the funding that it so desperately needed.

Senator Polley, if I may, I know that this is something that you often brought up in estimates. We sat through many estimates hearings together talking about this, the decision by the former government that put the brakes on the funding that the aged-care system so desperately needed. So I very much welcome the fact that this new Albanese government will be replacing that Aged Care Funding Instrument to put in place a more modern, more equitable funding system, which will be known as the Australian National Aged Care Classification funding model.

This bill also delivers other changes. The star ratings system will see the Department of Health and Aged Care publish a comparison rating for all residential aged-care services by the end of this year. This will be really helpful for members of the public in assessing the standard of different residential aged-care services. The bill will extend the Serious Incident Response Scheme to all in-home care providers from 1 December this year, increasing protection for older Australians from preventable incidents, abuse and neglect. I think we've all been horrified by those incidents of shocking neglect and, in some cases, downright abuse of residents in our aged-care facilities. Extending the Serious Incident Response Scheme will go a long way to stopping those kinds of things from happening. The bill will also introduce a new code of conduct for approved providers, their workforce and governing persons, setting minimum standards of behaviour to ensure older Australians receive care in a safe, competent and respectful manner. Again, this code will come into force on 1 September 2022.

These are things that the former government found it impossible to do. I mean, the former government went to the trouble of setting up a royal commission into aged care, under sufferance, after all of those examples of abuse and neglect were revealed. They finally moved to set up a royal commission, which delivered some very good recommendations. And what did they do? They sat on their hands, as they had done for the entire time they'd been in office, and didn't act on those recommendations. That's what this bill does. It took a change of government to implement recommendations of a royal commission that was initiated by the former government. I think there's a lot of older Australians and their families out there, and aged-care workers, who are pleased to see the change of government that occurred in May this year because we can finally get these recommendations of the royal commission implemented.

The bill will also deliver new provider governance and reporting arrangements, which are due to begin at the end of this year, which will improve transparency and provide greater accountability on providers to better focus on the needs of older Australians receiving care. I recognise that there are many good aged-care providers out there, but there have been too many examples where providers have done the wrong thing at the expense of residents, their families and workers, and this bill will address that through these new governance and reporting arrangements.

As a result of this bill, first steps will be taken towards harmonising regulation of care and supporting providers across the aged-care, disability support and veterans care sectors by improving information sharing between the bodies that regulate these sectors. The introduction of the next phase of the financial and prudential monitoring compliance and intervention framework will also be delivered by this bill, and that will provide additional protection for older Australians. This will enable greater government oversight of financial risks faced by the sector and help providers meet their obligations to refund deposits to residents.

The bill will also rename the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority to the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority to recognise its role around aged care, and its functions will be expanded to include advice on healthcare and aged-care pricing and costing. And, finally, the bill deals with supporting arrangement that commenced on 1 July last year, and this legislation will also enable providers to meet more robust requirements on the use of restrictive practices in jurisdictions where limitations regarding consent and guardianship laws exist. Again, this is another important reform to improve the rights of aged-care residents.

Put together, these changes will build on the Albanese government's promise to deliver security, dignity, quality, and humanity in care for every older Australian across the aged-care system. I know it's something that I want to see for my parents as they get towards the age when they will require aged care, and it's certainly the kind of thing that I think all Australians want to see provided to our older Australians.

Just before closing, I just want to reflect on the symbolism of this bill and what it means in broader terms beyond the specific elements of the bill itself. I think it's really notable that this is the piece of government business that the Senate is dealing with as its first order of business. It indicates the importance of putting in place a decent, well-funded, well-regulated aged-care system for our older Australians, nothing less than they deserve. It's nothing less than they deserve.